I Call Your Name

CHART ACTION
UNITED KINGDOM: Released on the Long Tall Sally EP June 19, 1964. The Long and Winding Road: An Intimate Guide to the Beatles

AUTHORSHIP Lennon (.8) and McCartney (.2)
Sometimes John and Paul would work on a song at Melove Avenue. One of the early songs written in John's cozy, untidy bedroom above the porch was 'I Call Your Name'. Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now

LENNON: "That was my song. When there was no Beatles and no group . . . It was my effort as a kind of blues originally, and then I wrote the middle-eight just to stick it in the album when it came out years later. . . . It was one of my first attempts at a song." September 1980, All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono

McCARTNEY: "We worked on it together, but it was John's idea. When I look back at some of these lyrics, I think, 'Wait a minute. What did he mean?' 'I call your name but you're not there.' Is it his mother? His father? I must admit I didn't really see that as we wrote it because we were just a couple of young guys writing. You didn't look behind it at the time, it was only later you started analysing things." Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now

RECORDED
March 1, 1964, at Abbey Road

INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: bass
LENNON: rhythm guitar, vocal (occasionally double-tracked)
HARRISON: lead guitar
STARR: drums

MISCELLANEOUS
This song was originally given to Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, who released their version as a B side to "Bad To Me" on July 26, 1963, in the United Kingdom and on September 23 in the United States. The Long and Winding Road: An Intimate Guide to the Beatles

LENNON: "The Beatles made an attempt at ska - the middle - the solo on 'I Call Your Name' was ska - deliberate and conscious. Right." December 6, 1980, The Last Lennon Tapes

COMMENTS BY BEATLES
LENNON: "I like this one. I wrote it very early on when I was in Liverpool, and added the middle eight when we came down to London." Beatles in Their Own Words